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life well planned. erika: i love seeing interns succeed, i love seeing them come back and join the engagement teams and seeing where they go from there, i get to watch their personal growth, it makes my heart happy. (laughs) ♪ ♪ narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation, the judy and peter blum kovler foundation, upholding freedom by strengthening democracies at home and abroad. announcer: and now, bbc news. sumi: i am sumi somaskann washington and this is bbc world news america. total carnage as palestinians are killed near an aide distribution site in gaza. myung is elected south korea's new president and vows to reboot

the economy and make peace with the northern neighbor. agents detonate underground explosions at a bridge in crimea, a key link between occupied peninsula and russia. welcome to world news america. thank you for joining us. at least 27 palestinians have been killed by israeli fire while trying to collect a from a distribution site in gaza, according to the hamas run health ministry. israel's military on tuesday confirmed troops fired at people who moved towards them while deviating from the designated access routes near an aid center. israel previously denied shooting palestinians at a similar incident at an aid site on sunday that gaza's health ministry says killed 31 people. the u.n. secretary general is calling an independent investigation into the killing of palestinians in search of food and international aid. international organizations have

refused to work with the israel and u.s.-backed military and organization, saying its work is not in line with humanitarian principles. people looking for food rations have to walk long distances to reach the age sites, often through combat zones. israel doesn't allow journalists into gaza, so our middle east correspondent lucy williamson sent this report from jerusalem. lucy: in gaza when you are less than half a mile from food aid, you keep going, even under fire. this video from a local journalist group seems to show the chaos at an israeli backed aid site, where dozens were shot dead. the casualties evacuated on donkey carts alongside sacks of aid. the area they were shot, under full israeli military control, out of reach of rescue teams. this grim routine repeated here for a third day. >> [translated] come get aid,

the road is safe and proper. is this a safe road? there was gunfire from the tanks. there were many injuries and many murders. we lifted them on our shoulders and carried them. >> it was direct fire on people. some were shot in the head. they saw young men, women, and children injured. people just kept talking. lucy: after denying any role in a similar incident on sunday, the israeli army said it had fired today toward some individuals. >> our soldiers identified several individuals who were deviating from the approved access route. this occurred approximately half a kilometer from the aid distribution site. our troops diligently issued warning shots, and as some of

the suspects continued despite these warning shots advancing toward the troops in a threatening manner, further fire was directed near the specific individuals. lucy: israel blames hamas for dozens of deaths near the distribution site on sunday and released this drone footage for evidence, showing a hamas gunman filing on civilians. but the video is from a completely different location and is unrelated to events at the new distribution sites. witnesses have a different explanation of the chaos. the desperation is drawing vast crowds that are hard to control. they see famine on the horizon and israeli troops firing on the ground. lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem. sumi: in washington, u.s. state department spokesperson tammy bruce was asked about the incident at the aid site.

tom bateman was at that briefing. thanks for being with us. what more did the spokesperson have to say about this? tom: a line from tammy bruce and the administration has been the idf is investigating. i have to say when the state department is pushed, and i pressed tammy bruce on the fact that the u.n. and other aid agencies have been warning for weeks about the dangers with this particular model, that if you have thousands of desperate and hungry civilians and you put them in close proximity to israeli troops because people are trying to get to food in a highly militarized environment, that's a potential recipe for chaos and danger. that's been the warning for these groups for a long time. the state department has said, the gaza humanitarian foundation is independent of government and this has to go to them. what we have heard from the

foundation is it is washing its hands of everything. it is beyond the perimeter of its distribution site. it has been pushed back to the israeli military. as you heard from lucy's report, there is still a lot of clarity. we know dozens of people killed and wounded over the last 48 hours. sumi: the u.s. does back this foundation but what do we know about it? tom: one important update is the gaza humanitarian foundation said tomorrow, wednesday, all of its sites will be closed. they have described it as renovation and efficiency improvements, but they warned people not to try to come to them. there is potential for a lot of risk because if that message doesn't get through to people, they may try again. you have potentially the recipe for things going wrong. this is primarily for an

organization being backed by the israelis, works in close coordination with the military on the ground. it is a very opaque organization. but today they announced they are going to have a new executive chairman, johnny moore , who is a christian evangelical preacher, a very pro-trump from figure who is part of the evangelicals who supported donald trump during his first election campaign who is likely to be the public face of this organization. sumi: what does this tell us about u.s. involvement as this war continues? tom: the administration has backed the israeli attempt to try to get aid into gaza in a way the israelis hoped would bypass the united nations because of the distrust israelis have had with the u.n. the u.n. has been repeatedly warning about the risks of doing

this. you have a three month period where israel cut off food supplies to gaza and now food is being allowed in in a very limited form. it is not enough food and as at area specific sites where people have to come to the aid and it creates danger, having to cross the front lines in a militarized environment. the week, the sick, the elderly and people who cannot travel to get aid. meanwhile, the u.n. has been cut off. only a trickle of aid from the u.n. has been getting into gaza. sumi: thank you for joining us, great to have your reporting on this story. we will come back to this reporting as we expect to get updates on this story. for now we want to move on to another big international story in south korea. it's presidential candidate lee jae-myung is promising to not let voters down after winning snap elections.

his administration faces a challenge to unite the country after the former president's impeachment for his attempt to impose martial law. massive crowds gathered for the first address to the nation. south korea's four major broadcasters predicted mr. lee would win well before the official announcement. voter turnout reached 79.4%, the highest since 1997. president-elect lee will be inaugurated in the capital on monday, a long-awaited moment for a man who lost the last elections to the former president by less than a single percent. jean mackenzie has more from seoul. >> as the exit polls came in, the lead camp you updated. after a chaotic six months that nearly saw south korea back under military rule, power is changing hands. this candidate campaigned on one very clear promise, that he was going to ensure martial law can

never happen again. it seems tonight this is what south koreans have decisively chosen, that they have once again rejected what happened on that night in december when the country was so nearly brought back under military rule. >> [translated] we have gained hope again. for the last six months, the korean people have overcome the cold winter and have come together. >> the celebration started before the polls even closed. this victory was clear from the start. lee, long considered a divisive character who has criminal charges against him, pulled in people with all shades of politics, desperate to steer south korea back onto stable ground. as they cast their ballots, people felt the weight of their boat. for one person, today was about building a future for his

two-year-old daughter. >> [translated] i hope after today the president will better serve the korean people and stabilize the country so we don't have to suffer anymore. jean: together that's create a new beginning, lee tells these crowds, who watch him declare victory. before he can fix the country, he must first deal with urgent challenges abroad. there are existential negotiations to be had with president trump, not just about tariffs but south korea's security. the u.s. defense south korea. there are thousands of troops stationed here. but trump is reportedly considering removing some of them. seoul is hoping to use some of these shifts as a bargaining chip. this is the largest shipyard in the world. they build 40 to 50 every year, from warships to gas tankers and

huge commercial vessels. in contrast, u.s. shipbuilding is in decline. its naval fleet pales in comparison to china and north korea is hoping to build and repair america's warships. >> the shipbuilding is the strongest part to negotiate tariffs with united states government. jean: this honeymoon will barely last the night. lee must take office immediately. the koreans are trusting him to steer the country responsibly. sumi: in a moment we will get some analysis on south korea's new leader. for now we want to go back to our top story as local officials and gaza say 27 palestinians were killed at an a distribution center for the gaza humanitarian organization. we speak to a spokesperson for the united nations secretary-general. really good to have you with us. i want to ask about what is

really authorities have set about what happened. they said several suspects were moving toward the site, deviating from the designated access roads and they were fired upon. what do you think of that explanation? >> i think it's a demonstration of how not to do humanitarian aid. the system that is currently in place puts people's lives at risk as they are trying to get food. it is forcing them to walk kilometers and kilometers in a militarized zone in a way that is unacceptable and frankly betrays all humanitarian principles. we have asked repeatedly, the israeli authorities, to let us do our work in a way that actually works, a way that has delivered food to people, that

has not forced people to come to the food. this continues to be our effort in gaza today, as it has been the last months. sumi: i know the secretary-general has called for an investigation, for the perpetrators to be held accountable. the israeli army says it is investigating what happened. do you think that will be sufficient? >> i don't want to prejudge anything. they have admitted they have shot at people, they have given their own reasons. we have condemned unequivocally the killing of civilians. our colleague said it has become a deathtrap. people should not have to put their lives at risk just to get food. that is not a way to run a

humanitarian program. sumi: the argument israel has made is the previous aid distribution system run by the u.n. has not gotten aid to people in need in gaza, because hamas has commandeered that aid. what is the response to that? >> during the cease-fire, the weeks that there was a cease-fire, our colleagues at the world food program managed to get food parcels to almost every person in gaza. the u.n. and local partners have community buy in. we are able to get food to those who need it without putting their lives at risk. it's a system that works. it is not perfect. it's impossible to have a perfect humanitarian system in a conflict zone. but we have had a system that is tried and true. we need to go back to it. what you and the bbc and others are seeing his competing

narratives, people telling you different things. one way to solve the issue is to allow journalists to go into gaza. we have been vocal about pushing authorities to allow international journalists to be in gaza, to see what is going on. sumi: is the u.n. working with the gaza humanitarian foundation to find a better way for it to distribute aid? >> we have been invited by the israeli authorities and the jh f to be briefed on their system. we attended those meetings. we are not working with them. the israelis have allowed us for the last two weeks or so a trickle of trucks to come in. we have tried to use that system as much as possible but are having great challenges, with looting from armed gangs but also people who are desperate to get food, who have helped

themselves to the flatbed trucks we are using. we want to work based on humanitarian principles of impartiality, independence, and getting aid to those who need it. for three days running, we have seen people getting killed while trying to access food. sumi: before we go, we have seen a statement from the gaza humanitarian foundation saying that tomorrow, june 4, distribution centers will be closed for update, organization, and efficiency improvement work. what do you make of that? >> we are not here to judge them and say i told you so. there is for us a lack of clarity of houthi -- of who the jh f is, a lack of accountability. we are seeing armed men around these distribution points. no one knows who they are, who

they are accountable for. my point is we have a him in a terrien system that has worked. we need to be allowed to do our work to feed those people in gaza who need it so much. sumi: the spokesperson for the u.n. secretary general. always good to have you on bbc news. let's come back to our other big international story. lee jae-myung elected south korea's next president and we speak now to a top u.s. advisor. henry haggard. very good to have you on the program today. what do you make of what we have seen so far from the new president and his message to south koreans? >> before looking at his message, it is important to say that this is a victory for korea. the fact that six months ago, korean democracy, korea as we know it, was really in the

balance with the declaration of martial law. fast forward six months, they have made it through this time of instability with acting presidents and have successfully elected a new president with the highest turnout in almost 30 years. this is a real success. so far what we have heard from the president-elect has been pretty standard, perfunctory, and hit the right notes. i think the real victor tonight is the south korean people, south korean democracy, and south korean stability. sumi: do you think this does put an end to the chaos over the last six months? >> the chaos of the last six months obviously was exacerbated by the impeachment, the martial law declaration, and the proceedings after that. added into that, there were

other things going on that were challenging for the south korean government to deal with. in this case it was even more challenging. in some sense, we will turn the page on that for a more stable south korea. the polarization that was there and has been there for some time has not really been addressed. there is still deep polarization between the conservatives and liberals. i know the president-elect has talked a lot about unifying the people of south korea. obviously that resonated enough to get him elected but it remains a big challenge and the second part of that chaos you speak of. sumi: what about the message we have heard from him about more stability with its partner to the north? north korea? what do you think of that? >> every south korean president, liberal and conservative, has campaigned for the last decades

on working with north korea, finding some way to reach out to or engage. different methods, but ultimately the south korean people want engagement with the north on their president. they don't want conflict, they don't want heightened tension. the method he employs could be different from what a conservative president-elect would have employed. it is not particularly surprising or alarming, the stance he has laid out up until this point. there are two parts of this. what advisors does the president-elect choose? what is their approach to north korea, what policies do they attempt to put in place? here is the more important piece. what does kim jong-un think about this? is he ready to engage with south korea or the united states? i am dubious, in the wake of his partnership with moscow. i would be quite surprised if

overtures from the president-elect, south korea, or washington are effective in the near term. sumi: thank you for joining us on world news america today. great to have you. a crucial bridge linking russia to occupied crimea is open again despite being damaged hours earlier by ukrainian attack. ukraine's security service says it placed explosives under the bridge to try to damage its foundations. it claims the detonation was months in the making. the bridge was opened in 2018, a sign of russia's annexation of crimea four years earlier. ukraine says it is a legitimate target because pressure uses it as a supply route for troops. but that the bridge open again, the attack doesn't seem to have fulfilled its aims. our correspondent has more from kyiv. >> it's the second time in two days the sbu has been claiming responsibility for a major operation.

nothing on the scale of the attacks on the russian airbases on sunday, but nevertheless an important and significant target. the courage bridge has been the object of ukrainian anger and hatred persons it was opened in 2018, a pet project of vladimir putin. he personally opened it four years after russia annexed the crimean peninsula. it formed a link between the russian mainland and what ukrainians regard as occupied territory. 2022 ukrainians tried to blow it up. i was here at the time, i remember the sense of euphoria that greeted that operation. as far as today's operation, it doesn't appear to have done a significant amount of damage. the bridge was reopened a short time afterwards, although we understand this afternoon the bridge was closed again, possibly following a second explosion.

it is an ongoing situation. the overall message is ukraine is showing it is able to hit russian targets sort of at will and that the kerch bridge remains very much in their sites. sumi: the dutch prime minister has resigned after a far right politician withdrew his party support for the four-way politician. the prime minister says the decision to withdraw from the government over immigration policy was unnecessary. he says the cabinet will continue in a caretaker policy but snap elections are likely. >> the coalition was a marriage of convenience that seemed destined to end. characterized by infighting and struggle to push through many of the policies it had proudly promoted and promised the country. it was made up of two center and

hard right parties. mr. wilders decision to torpedo the government has been met with a fiery response from his former coalition partners. one said he was pushing his own ego ahead of the national interest. another said it was a kamikaze move and irresponsible coming weeks ahead of the nato summit, which will be held in the hague. however, mr. welders -- wilders appears to be emboldened. he made a statement saying he would be the next prime minister of the netherlands. what are his chances? according to the latest polls, the hard right, his party, and the green left seem to been in net. schoof the prime minister shared a picture earlier going up the red carpeted steps to the palace. he submitted the rest of his cabinet ministers' resignation to the king. it's likely there will be snap elections in the autumn.

sumi: a quick update on another story. immigration authorities in the u.s. have arrested the wife and children of a man expect -- suspected of carrying out an attack in boulder, colorado. he was charged after dozens were injured at a march calling for the release of israeli hostages held in gaza. homeland security secretary kristi noem said we are investigating, looking to see if the family provided any support to the suspect. that is our program today. thank announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james. funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation, the judy and peter blum kovler foundation, upholding freedom by strengthening democracies at home and abroad. ♪ ♪

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♪ amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. on the "newshour" tonight. more palestinians in gaza are killed while seeking aid. we speak with former israeli prime minister ehud olmert, who says his country is committing war crimes. >> this is becoming like a private war for the prime minister, trying to somehow escape from the possible ramifications of ending the war now. amna: democratic and republican mayors weigh in on the nation's worsening housing crisis. geoff: